A spring‐driven press device for hot embossing and thermal bonding of PMMA microfluidic chips

Abstract

A novel spring-driven press device was designed and manufactured for hot embossing and thermal bonding of PMMA microfluidic chips in this work. This simple device consisted of two semi-cylinder silicone rubber press heads, three steel clamping plates, and three compression springs that were assembled together using two screw bolts and two butterfly nuts. The three springs were clamped between the upper and the middle clamping plates, whereas the two press heads were assembled between the middle and the lower clamping plates. After an epoxy template covered by a PMMA plate or a PMMA channel plate together with a cover were sandwiched between two microscopic glass slides for embossing or bonding, respectively, they were clamped between the two elastic press heads of the press device by fastening the screw nuts on the upper clamping plate. Because the convex press heads applied pressure along the middle line of the glass slides, they would deform resulting in a negative pressure gradient from the middle to the sides so that air bubbles between the sandwiched parts could be squeezed out during embossing and bonding processes. High-quality PMMA microfluidic chips were prepared by using this unique device and were successfully applied in the electrophoretic separation of several cations.

Polyester‐toner electrophoresis microchips with improved analytical performance and extended lifetime

“…Based on data reported in literature, PDMS , PMMA and poly(carbonate) are the most popular polymeric platforms explored for producing ME systems. These devices are often fabricated by using soft lithography , molding injection , and hot embossing processes . Besides the substrate materials mentioned above, polyester‐toner (PT) has emerged as a promising platform for microfluidic application .…”

MEKC as a powerful growing analytical technique

“…Moreover, for the application of CD in chiral separation Chen et al . developed a method for separation of dipeptides with two chiral centers after precolumn derivatization by using naphthalene‐2,3‐dicarboxyaldehyde as a tagging reagent in the presence of 2‐hydroxypropyl‐β‐CD and sodium deoxycholate in MEKC 128. The enantioseparation was achieved in 14 min, and this method was applied for samples from human serum.…”

“…The separation and quantitation of enantiomeric drug which constitute about 40% of drug in use was not only achieved with CZE 293 but also with MEKC 128, 231, 243, 261, 270, 294–300.…”

A Non-Photolithography Fabrication for a Microfluidic Chip Based on PMMA Polymer

“…The stamp fabricating process can be performed in less than 4 h, and the stamp can be used for more than 50 embossing cycles [30]. As for hot embossing and thermal bonding of PMMA microfluidic chips, a spring-driven press device is designed and manufactured [31]. The hot roller embossing method is used in order to make a comparison with the traditional hot embossing technique.…”